Princess Louise Fusiliers Regimental Heritage Association

North West Campaign

North-West Canada, 1885

There were close to 5,000 volunteer militia, accompanied with permanent force units, called out for active service in the North-West Rebellion in 1885.

The Halifax Provisional Battalion was formed – consisting of 359 men and 31 officers made up of three companies from the then 66th Princess Louise Fusiliers Regiment, three companies of the 63rd Halifax Rifles Regiment, and two companies of the 1st “Halifax” Brigade of Garrison Artillery. They left Halifax on 11 April (1885) on the Intercolonial Railway, making a number of stops along their way West.

The rail-line wasn’t fully complete across the country, having some gaps where the battalion had to march, namely over a section of ice-covered Lake Superior. And on 21 April, the battalion suffered its first casualty - Private F. Marwick, of the 63rd Regiment, who died of exposure.

The battalion picked up the line again, and made their way to Winnipeg, having travelled 4,785 km (2,973 mi) over ten days. In Winnipeg they met up with other battalions and received their assignments.

The Halifax Provisional Battalion was assigned to guard communications and telegraph lines, dig trench lines and ensure supply lines were secure in the District of Assiniboia, first at Swift Current, then later at Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw areas.

Keep in mind, at that time the province of Saskatchewan didn’t exist (only becoming a province and joining Canada in 1905), but rather there were a number of Districts till you reached British Columbia.

Men from the 66th Princess Louise Fusiliers on the prairie during the North-West Rebellion campaign of 1885. Library and Archives Canada.

While in Medicine Hat, the Halifax Provisional Battalion suffered its second casualty, Private William Muhlig of the 66th. He drowned in a local river while bathing. Age twenty, he had been married only a few weeks before the battalion departed Halifax.

The Battalion ultimately never saw action and later they returned to Halifax in mid-July, arriving on the 24 July at the North Street Intercolonial Railway Station from which it had departed more then three months earlier.

The Intercolonial Railway Station, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Opened in 1878 at the foot of North Street west of Richmond Street (now Barrington), the railway station was practically destroyed in the Halifax Explosion and later it closed in 1920 when a newer rail station opened downtown at the current site of the VIA Rail Station.

On 27 June 1899, 500 men from the 66th Battalion “The Princess Fusiliers” marched from their old drill shed quarters on Spring Garden Road to their newly built quarters at the Halifax Armoury.

The Halifax North Park Armoury became the new home of the 66th Battalion “The Princess Fusiliers,” 27 June 1899.

No sooner when the regiment had settled in their new Armoury home when the federal Government of Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier called out a first contingent of 1,000 men from the provinces to assist Britain in the South African War (Boer War 1899-1902). The call out for volunteers in Canada would be formed up as a special service battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR2) under the command of Lt.-Col. William Otter.

The South African "BOER" War

South Africa, 1899 - 1902

Boer farmer-soldiers, South Africa, 1899. Wikipedia Creative Commons.

There had been over sixty years of growing strain and hostility between British immigrants and Dutch settlers known as Boers (from the Dutch word farmer) in the Dutch Afrikaner republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State – much of it having to do with mining and mineral rights. The Boers declared war on Britain on 12 October 1899 and the conflict would last 2 years and 8-months.

There are various narratives of the South African War – more commonly known as the Boer War.¹ For the purposes of this profile, when the war was declared, in Halifax “H” Company was formed up as a 125-men volunteer force, becoming part of the first contingent of the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry (2 RCRI) commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel William Dillon Otter.

Officers under Lieutenant-Colonel William Otter. Captain Henry B. Duncan Stairs, upper right, commanded “H” Company of the Halifax Volunteer Provisional Battalion of the First Contingent of Canadian Troops to South Africa. Canadian War Museum.

“H” company came under the command of PLF Captain Henry B. Duncan Stairs. 36 men served from the 66th “Princess Louise Fusiliers,” while others came from the 63rd Halifax Rifles, and other regiments. The men left by rail to Quebec City to join up with seven other regionally-based companies, consisting of a 1,000 volunteers in total that set sail for Cape Town on 30 Oct. 1899. It took them a month to reach Cape Town, arriving on 29 November 1899. Another 6,000 volunteers would follow later in a second contingent. 12 nursing sisters also served in the South African War, the first time Canadian women had been sent overseas with the military.

Canadian troops pinned down by fire at the Paardeberg Drift (fiord) on the Modder River. Photo, J. Cooper Mason, Canadian War Museum.

One of the more significant battles in the conflict was called the Battle of Paardeberg, 18-27 Feb. 1900, which witnessed a 15,000-British force facing 7,000 Boers. It was the first time that men in Canadian uniform fought in a Canadian unit in their first foreign war. This specific battle also gave Canada its first Remembrance Day - starting in 1900 until the First World War – when Canadians gathered on the 27 February to remember Paardeberg Day – rather than our current 11th November Remembrance Day.

Two men from the 66th were killed in action during the Boer War [Pte. J.G. Jr. Sievert and Pte. A.B. Zong] and one man from the 63rd Halifax Rifles [Pte. L.A. Purcell].

The South African War memorial at Province House, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Photo, Leo J. Deveau.

The South African War memorial at the north-end of Nova Scotia Province House was dedicated by the Duke of Cornwall and York on 19 October 1901. It has served as the current site of Remembrance Day services for The Princess Louise Fusiliers since 1983.

A total of 7,368 Canadian troops volunteered to serve in South Africa.² It was Canada’s first foreign war – 89 died in action, 135 died from disease and 252 were wounded. Five of them earned the Victoria Cross for their bravery. Fusilier Captain Henry B. Duncan Stairs of “H” Company was awarded the D.S.O. and promoted to Major for his service at Paardeberg.

Footnotes:

¹ For more background on the conflict see Dispatches: For Queen and Country: Canadians and the South African War, 1899-1902. Canadian War Museum. Online accessed: https://www.warmuseum.ca/articles/for-queen-and-country-canadians-and-the-south-african-war-1899-1902

² Another 1,004 also served with a 3rd (Special Service) Battalion (3 RCRI) as garrison troops in Halifax that freed up a British battalion for service in the war.